


Hexside's Got Talent!

by FlameWizard492



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Bullying, Dancing, Eda bragging about the kid she adopted (kinda), Flashback, Friendship, I know people ship Skarlow but can't they just be friends in this? That's all I'm asking., Luz ugly crying., MC Gus, Music, New Friends, Oblivious Luz Noceda, One-Sided Attraction, Plants, Platonic Relationships, Redemption, Singing, Talent Shows, Trust Issues, Willow has trust issues., Willow is a great friend to Amity for letting her have time alone with Luz., barber shop quartet, making amends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-16 19:00:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29829453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlameWizard492/pseuds/FlameWizard492
Summary: The long-awaited annual Hexside Talent Show has finally come! Luz has convinced Willow to participate, but since Luz is doing the show with Amity and Gus is being the MC again, she may have to seek help from someone who she's not too open to work with.
Relationships: Amity Blight & Luz Noceda, Amity Blight & Luz Noceda & Willow Park & Gus Porter, Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Eda Clawthorne & Luz Noceda, Willow Park & Skara
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	1. Someone Needs Convincing

It was that time of year again at Hexside School of Magic and Demonics. It was once again time for the annual Hexside Talent Show! And everyone’s favorite human couldn’t be more excited once she hears about it! So excited that ever since she heard about it, she kept talking and talking about it whenever she was with her friends.

“I wonder what I should do for it!” Luz said as she, Willow, Gus, and Amity sat at their lunch table together. “I don’t know any instruments, but maybe I could sing? Rap? Recite a poem? A theatrical monologue? Standup?”

“Luz, you gotta incorporate your type of magic into your act,” Gus explained to her.

“Ah, interesting,” she replied.

“So, which one are you gonna pick?” Willow asked.

“I couldn’t pick one track to _study_ , let alone use one in the talent show,” she said. “You guys thinking of signing up?”

“Nah, I got asked to be the MC again,” said Gus. “Apparently, everybody liked how I did at Grom, so there was a lot of demand for me to do it again.”

“Whoa! Congrats! What about you, Amity?”

No response. Apparently, she’s been staring at Luz the whole time with a cute little grin and a little blush. She hasn’t been paying attention. She’s drowned out all sounds just to focus on her.

“Amity!?”

“Huh!?” she says as she snaps back to reality.

“Are you gonna be in the talent show?”

“Oh, um . . . I never really participated,” she replied. “Always studying and all and . . . I don’t know . . . I’ve never really been too excited whenever it came around. Everyone in my old gang didn’t really wanna do it either . . . except Skara, but none of us ever wanted to be in the show with her. The whole thing’s just been kinda ‘meh’ for me.”

“Hey, c’mon!” Luz said. “Being on stage can be a lot of fun! I always used to try out for plays and the drama club at my old school, but they never let me do it because of my . . . reckless weirdness.”

“I . . . just don’t think it’s for me,” says Amity.

“What if I can show you how fun it is? What if we did an act together? Would that be more fun?”

“YES!!!” Amity responds incredibly quickly, looking a bit more eager. She then regains her composure. “I mean, I guess it could be fun since I’d be doing it with someone that I actually . . . you know . . . enjoy being with.”

“Great! Oh, this is gonna be so much fun!”

“Yeah.”

Amity glances at Willow. Willow’s giving her a reassuring smile. It’s one of those “I’m-happy-for-you” looks.

“Oh, Willow!” said Luz. “Are you thinking of being in the show!?”

Willow’s smile then fades. It’s replaced with what seemed like a look of sadness, but also somewhat lost in thought. She seems rather upset.

“Willow? You good?” Gus says.

“Oh, yeah,” she says. “I just . . . the talent show and I . . . don’t mix.”

“What do you mean?” asks Luz.

Amity’s eyes suddenly widened as she had a moment of realization.

“I think I know what she means,” she says. “But, Willow, you don’t have to say anything about it if you’re not comfortable with-”

“No, it’s fine,” Willow reassures her. “I’ll share. I mean . . . you can’t really solve this kind of problem without letting people help you.”

“Okay,” Luz says. “So, what’s your beef with the talent show?”

“Well,” Willow begins. “It was about four . . . maybe five years ago . . .”

**_FLASHBACK!_**

A younger 10-year-old Willow sits in an empty classroom after school, wearing her abomination track uniform. She’s trying to get a small abomination sitting on a table to play a little drum, but it just sits there.

“Come on!” she says. “I know we can do this. Abomination, play!”

The little creature then collapses into a puddle of goo on the table.

Young Willow sulks in disappointment until a familiar voice is heard in the open doorway.

“Oh look!” says a younger-looking Boscha to her friends. “Half-a-Witch can’t even get her abominations to stay together!”

Willow gasps as she turns to look at them.

The other kids in Boscha’s gang laugh at her and begin to call her names.

Next to Boscha stands a younger-looking Amity, who briefly makes eye contact with Willow. Willow looks at her, longing for her to say something or stand up for her. She just wants some help. Just wants a break. Just wants them to stop.

Amity quickly just glances away from her and walks off.

It’s as if she meant nothing to her anymore.

The rest of the kids follow her, still laughing a little.

Once they’re gone, Willow slowly walks over the table and takes a seat. She crosses her arms as she lays them on the table and places her head on top of them.

Then she just starts bawling.

That was it, then. She still had hope that she and Amity could be friends again, but that’s what did it. The last bit of hope that they’d make amends was gone.

She felt useless.

Worthless.

Unloved.

Alone.

**_FLASHBACK ENDS!_ **

“And that’s why I never wanted to participate again,” Willow concludes.

“Willow,” Amity says softly, heavy guilt lingering within her. “I’m so sorry . . . I . . . it’ll never happen again. I promise. I’ll stand up for you whenever Boscha tries to pick on you again.”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” she responds. “Things are different now. Things are getting better, ya know?”

The two of them share a smile.

Meanwhile, Luz is just sitting there, ugly crying.

“That was such a sad story!” she says, sniveling up. “I’m glad that y-you two are making up, and . . . and . . . I’m happy that things are getting *sniff* better!”

Gus puts his hand on Luz’s shoulder, trying to comfort her. Amity just stares at her, smiling at the thought that she just cares so much for the people she loves.

Once Luz’s tears stop flowing and her emotions calm back down, she gets the conversation back on track.

“So, you’re not going to participate?” she asks.

“I doubt it,” Willow replies.

“But that was back when you were in the abomination track.” Amity says. “You’re working with what you’re good at now.”

“Yeah,” Gus chimes in. “And you’ve come out of your shell more. You’re more confident. Talking to people.”

“It was enough to make _Boscha_ jealous of you!” Luz says. “So much has changed! Why not let this change too?”

Willow ponders the idea.

 _Huh_ , she thinks. _I don’t know for sure, but I’ve certainly gotten more respect lately . . ._

She sighs . . . and then smiles.

“Okay,” she says. “You’ve convinced me. I’ll do it.”

“Heck yeah!” Luz shouts, slightly shocking everyone at the table and catching the attention of some of the other students. “Willow’s doin’ the talent show, baby!”

Amity chuckles as Willow politely tries to shush her out of fear of embarrassment.

“Sorry,” Luz says. “So, what are you gonna do?”

“Not sure,” Willow answers.

“Well, . . . what did you have in mind for the show all those years ago?”

“I . . . might have been a little in over my head. I wanted to see if I can make an abomination sing.”

“Well, why not try to make a plant sing? I’ve seen you grow those huge carnivorous plants with the big mouths.”

“I don’t think that would work. They have mouths, not vocal cords. They can’t sing.”

“Hey don’t worry,” Gus says. “I’m sure that once you find someone to do the show with, you’ll figure something out.”

Willow suddenly looked shocked.

“Oh.”

“What?” Amity says.

“I have nobody to work with,” Willow answers.

“Oh,” Luz says. “Well, I’m sorry. I reeeaaally wanna help, but Amity and I . . . ya know.”

“No, it’s fine!” Willow insists. “I’ll find someone! Trust me!”

“But I wanna heeeeelp!”

“I’ll be fine, Luz. I’ll figure something out.”

Willow then turns to Amity and gives her a nod and a wink.

Amity just smiles in gratitude and nods back, trying to keep down a flustered giggle of excitement.

“Alright,” Luz says, unaware of what Willow and Amity were thinking. “So, who would you consider working with?”

“I don’t know,” Willow replies. “I’m not really close with anyone here other than you guys.”

Suddenly, Luz’s face illuminates as an idea materializes in her head.

“Hey, Amity,” she says. “Didn’t you say that Skara wanted to participate but could never find anyone?”

“Yeah?” Amity replies.

“Oh no,” says Willow. “I’m not sure about that. I mean . . . she might have some respect for me after the grudgeby game, but . . . I’m not sure. I don’t just walk up to people I barely know and say, ‘Hey! I know that we barely know and talk to each other and that whenever we do, it’s always when you’re hanging with your jerk of a friend, but do you wanna do something for the talent show together?’ I just . . . I don’t operate like that.”

“Willow, c’mon,” says Amity. “You won’t know until you try.”

“Says the girl who insists that she doesn’t like being in the talent show despite having never tried it?” said Willow, jokingly.

“Ha ha,” Amity sarcastically replied. “Look, I know that Boscha’s been a bad influence on literally anyone she hangs out with, but . . . maybe there’s a chance that Skara would be willing to work with you. You can ask her after school. Just . . . try. That’s all I can say. . . Just try.”

 _Just try, huh?_ she asks herself. _Well, I gave Amity a chance to make amends, and it’s going well. . . I know that not everybody will seize that chance to be better, but . . . she’s right. I won’t know until I try_.

“Okay,” Willow says. “I’ll _consider_ working with her.”

“Great!” Luz said. “Okay, Amity. What should we do for the show? I was thinking that maybe we could use this new thing that I learned to do with my light spell. I figured how to change their colors if I just . . .”

Luz just went on and on about her ideas for what they could do, and Amity shared a few of hers as well.

However, Willow couldn’t stop thinking about what she got herself into. She’s getting along with Amity. It’s going pretty well, but she didn’t know if Boscha had enough influence on Skara’s character to make her as bad as she was. She may have showed her respect after the grudgeby game, but according to Willow’s standards and procedures for friendship, that lands her more in the gray area.

 _Who knows?_ she thinks. _Maybe things’ll change_.


	2. Trying Not to Make This Awkward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for Willow to actually reach out to Skara for help in the talent show, but will things go smoothly or, as she anticipated, come crashing down?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you don't mind that this chapter is shorter than the last one.
> 
> Also, just so you know, the part in italics is Willow thinking to herself. I don't know if I made that clear enough in the story.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Willow sat on a bench outside of Skara’s last class of her day. She’d been debating whether or not she should do this since lunch, but she ultimately decided to give it a shot.

She then saw Skara walking out of the classroom. She took a deep breath, stands up, and marches over to her.

“Hey, Skara!?” she calls to her.

 _What am I doing?_ she thinks.

Skara turns around.

“Willow?”

“How, uh, how’s it going?” she asks.

“Um, good?”

“Oh, that’s, uh, that’s good. Good to hear.”

“Yeah.”

There’s an awkward silence for a little bit.

_Ugh. Great. Now it’s awkward._

“So, uh,” Willow says. “I, uh, Amity told me that you’ve been wanting to, uh, be in the talent show for a while now.”

“Oh, yeah, I have.”

“Well, I’ve been thinking, and Luz may have convinced me to be in the show too.”

“Okay. That’s cool.”

“And I don’t have anyone to work on an act with.”

Skara’s eyes widen as she catches on to what Willow is trying to say.

“Are you asking me to do the show with you?”

“Um, yes. What do you say?”

_I hate this._

“Sure,” Skara replies. “I’d like that.”

 _I rescind my mental comment_.

“Really?”

“Yeah! I’ve been wanting to do it for years now, but I thought everyone in my friend group might think it’s uncool.”

 _This is going surprisingly well_.

“Okay, so . . . when can we meet to start brainstorming?”

Skara thinks for a moment.

“I’m free tomorrow after school,” she says. “Sound good?”

“Y-yeah,” Willow replies. “Where do you wanna meet?”

“Well, I don’t really need much for my bard magic. I can bring whatever we need anywhere.”

“How about one of the plant track classrooms? That way, we’ll have everything that I need right then and there.”

“I’d like that.”

“Cool.”

_How the heck is this going so well!?_

There’s another awkward pause. Willow’s expression seems a little awkward.

“You okay?” Skara asks.

“Y-yeah,” she says. “I’m good. I’m good. I just . . . that’s it?”

“What do you mean, ‘that’s it?’”

“I mean like . . . after everything . . . basically Boscha’s been tormenting me for years, and you’ve been . . . encouraging it . . . and joining in, but . . . you were kinda nice to me after the grudgeby game. I just . . . I don’t get it. Why the kindness?”

“Well . . .” Skara began. “I’ll admit Boscha’s a bit of a jerk sometimes . . . okay, _all_ the time, but it’s just that . . . I like being on good terms with people I’m close to, okay? And . . . you seemed pretty cool after you totally smoked us at the game, even though we won. I just thought that I’d be more . . . open. Broaden my social sphere so I can . . . I don’t know . . . see what it could bring to the table. Not try and stick with one friend group, ya know? Especially when its leader is pretty toxic.”

“I feel that,” Willow replied. “Look, we both know that Amity and I are getting along more, so I just convinced myself that maybe it can work with you to.”

“So, you wanna be friends? Is that what you’re asking?”

“I wanna try to at least be on better terms. I don’t like . . . using the ‘friend’ label right away.”

“I understand. You wanna make sure you can trust them. I get that.”

“Okay,” Willow says. “So, we’re cool?”

“We’re cool,” Skara says. “Not friends but getting there. Clearly established.”

“Cool.”

Skara begins to walk away. She turns back to Willow with a smile.

“See ya!” she says.

“See you tomorrow!” Willow says back.

 _That went better than expected_.

**_THE NEXT DAY:_ **

Willow is hanging out in the plant classroom, waiting for Skara. She had a few large pots filled with soil set aside for their act. She’s still unsure about what she’s gotten herself into. It’s not that she’s unconfident about her skills or being in the show. No, she’s still having doubts about Skara. Still unsure of whether she should trust her, but she’s still giving her a chance. She’s trying to hold out hope for her.

Willow turns to the door when she hears it creak as it opens, revealing Skara.

“Hey,” Skara says.

“Oh, uh, hey,” Willow says back.

Skara walks over to a table and sets her backpack down. She takes out a few books and notebooks. Willow joins her at the table, and they both take a seat.

“So, what are you thinking of doing for the show,” Skara says. “Do you have anything in mind?”

“Well, back when I was in the abomination track, I thought about teaching one to sing,” Willow said. “Luz thought that I could teach one of those plants over there to sing.”

Willow points to a large carnivorous plant with rows of sharp, needle-like teeth and thorns all over its stem. Skara shuddered when she saw it move a little.

“That actually sounds like a good idea,” Skara said, regaining her composure.

“That’s what Luz said, but they have no vocal cords,” Willow informed her.

Skara thought for a moment, and then she replied.

“Not yet. I’ve got an idea. Got anything smaller I can work with?”

Willow glanced around the room, trying to find a smaller plant. She finally saw a smaller plant, about a few inches tall, that was similar to the larger one. She stood up, retrieved the plant, and brought it back to the table.

“Let me try something,” Skara said

Skara casted a spell circle, and a little beam of light formed over her hand. She hovered it over the plant, and the light was suddenly absorbed into the plant.

The plant began to shake. It stood a little higher. It faced the girls. It opens its mouth.

It suddenly starts singing the chorus _Piano Man_ by Billy Joel.

Willow is impressed, and she giggles a little at the absurdity of what Skara’s done.

“How’d you know that would work?” Willow asked.

“I’ve tried it on a few of the beastkeeping track animals.” Skara answered.

“I’ll be honest, I’m kinda getting more excited for this!” Willow said. “I haven’t looked forward to this since . . .” Willow’s tone shifts to a sadder one. “Boscha and her gang and . . . you laughed your butts off when I tried to make my abomination sing a few years ago.”

Skara’s eyes widen in realization.

“What?” Willow asked.

“Um, I know we’re kinda on questionable terms right now, but . . .” she says reluctantly. “That may have been . . . my idea.”

Willow was shocked, and then shock turned to anger.

“You!?” she shouts as she gets up out of her chair. “You- . . . you know what I’m not surprised.”

Willow regains her composure. She doesn’t sound angry but incredibly disappointed.

“I’m sorry, I wanna trust you,” she says as she begins to leave the classroom with her things. “but it’s just getting hard for me.”

“Willow, wait!”

She stops. She sighs.

“I get that it’s been hard, okay?” Skara explains. “But I just wanna make things right. It’s just . . . Boscha and her posse are all I have. I just thought that . . . this might be my chance to have more than just them, and trust me, anything is better than hanging with _them_. I’m sorry, okay. I’m sorry for everything. I just . . . need you to let me have that chance. . . Please, Willow.”

Willow sighs and turns around, looking down.

“Okay,” she says. “Alright. . . I’m sorry. I just wanna be careful with who I trust. I got hurt once before and . . .”

“I get that,” Skara says. “but we can do something about it _now_. Whaddaya say? Deal?”

Skara offers her hand for Willow to shake.

There’s a pause.

Willow looks her in the eye.

She smiles, albeit reluctantly.

“Deal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all are still enjoying this. I've got one more left. Like I said, I'm working on a much bigger TOH story, but I needed a break and wrote this.
> 
> Chapter 3, which is actually more of an epilogue, will be out soon.


	3. It's Really More of an Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a pretty short chapter/epilogue. The night of the show it here! How will it play out?

“Alright, Hexside!” Gus shouts into his microphone. “We having a good time!?”

The crowd cheers in the auditorium.

“Awesome! Glad to hear that. . . Next up, we have the team of Willow from the plant track and Skara from the bard track with a special musical performance! Give it up for Willow and Skara, everybody!”

Gus is met with applause as he walks offstage.

The well-dressed duo brings four large pots filled with soil onstage and sets them down. Willow casts a large spell circle and directs the magic towards the pots.

All of a sudden, a large carnivorous plant similar to the big one from the classroom bursts from each pot! They’re looking menacing and animalistic. They could rip either one of the witches to shreds.

Then Skara casts her spell circle, and the beam of light appears again. She directs the magic at the plants.

The plants stand taller. They don’t look so menacing anymore.

“. . . two, three, four-” Skara directs them.

The four plants start singing a Capella like a barber shop quartet. The audience found it pretty charming. They also thought it was bizarre to see such large, beastly plants do something so out of the ordinary. They sang their hearts out (metaphorically, of course, because plants don’t have hearts), never missing a beat.

Willow and Skara’s performance was met with thunderous applause from the audience.

They face each other and smiled with glee. They felt so proud of themselves!

**_LATER THAT EVENING:_ **

They learned that they made second place.

Apparently, Luz and Amity did better than them. Amity used her abomination goo to make three-dimensional scenes on stage, and because Luz figured out how to color the scenes with her colorable lights to make them look less like abomination goo and more like actual places. The two of them shared a dance very similar to the one they did on Grom Night, and they changed the scenes midway through their dance from places like a forest to a town to a pier and other places. It was pretty impressive.

After the winners were announced and given their awards, Willow, Skara, and their friends were walking out of the auditorium, congratulating each other and praising their performances.

“Hey,” Willow says to Skara. “If you ever want to join our little group, we’d be happy to have you.”

“Really?” Skara replies.

“If it’s okay with them,” Willow says, gesturing to the rest of the group.

“Oh, sure!” Luz says, enthusiastically. “If someone like Willow can trust you, then I guess we can trust you too!”

“I’m okay with having you hang out with us,” Gus says.

“As long as there’s no more picking on people,” Amity chimes in.

“That . . . sounds great,” Skara says with a smile. A real, genuine smile. “Thanks.”

“And no sharing any embarrassing secrets and stories from when we hung out with Boscha, okay?” Amity playfully adds.

“You’re never safe from embarrassment, Mittens!” Edric shouts, standing in the background with Emira.

“We’re gonna tell everyone everything!” Emira shouts with him.

Amity groans in annoyance, but everyone laughs, making her shrug off the annoyance and laugh along with them.

The gang met up with their families, and they congratulated them and expressed how proud they were of them. Eda even ended up bragging to the other parents that Luz won first place . . . and maybe mentioning that Amity was good too.

They all left happy that night, enjoying the fun they had and the memories they made.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope that you're enjoying it so far! I'm new to writing fanfics, so I'm bound to make the occasional mistake. I'm very open to constructive criticism. Just keep it polite. Expect the next chapter soon!
> 
> I'm also working on a much bigger Owl House story. I decided to do this on the side because the idea seemed good enough to write a story about it.


End file.
